Their Song of Love
by Kat Lee formerly Pirate Turner
Summary: It's Valentine's Day, and Gage is determined not to give up. SaG all the way!


Title: "Their Song of Love"  
Author: Pirate Turner  
Rating: R for sexual content  
Summary: It's Valentine's Day, and Gage is determined not to give up.  
Warnings: Het  
Challenge/Prompt: 13 of Peja's February '09 prompts:  
3. Be my Valentine  
6. Forbidden pleasures  
7. romantic escape  
9. Kitchen Nightmare  
10. danger  
12. never give up  
13. we're in danger  
14. I'm here, nothing can harm you  
16. get real  
24. someone you trust  
25. we need to talk  
26. wanna be close  
28. liar, you totally....  
Disclaimer: Angel, Cordelia Chase, and Buffy Summers are © & TM their respective owners, not the author, and are used without permission. Everything else is © & TM the author. The author makes absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.

He strode in that morning with a big grin and an even larger kiss in his hand. Sydney took one look, shook her head, and returned her full attention to the assignment at hand.

Around noon time, he invited her to lunch. She declined thankfully and gently, preferring her far safer bagged lunch.

In the heat of the day, he poured his water bottle over his face. She tried not to watch the water trickle over his handsome face and muscular chest and forced out a laugh. Her laughter died almost as soon as it began, however, for the sight of his darkening cheeks pained her heart. She didn't want to be cruel to him. She didn't want to hurt him. She only wanted to keep him at bay, to keep herself out of the torment that his forbidden pleasures would induce. She couldn't love Gage for that would lead her to a world of pain beyond anything she'd ever known and knew she could not bare, so she looked away and prayed that one day he'd give up though she knew he'd never give up.

That afternoon, the radio announcer spoke over the lines of a man who professed to love a woman with all his heart though she never seemed to return any of his attentions. He kept on trying, the announcer said, and Sydney knew then that the song was for her. She lowered her head and tried to ignore all the eyes that turned her way when he spoke her name and Gage's. Her own cheeks burned this time at the ballad that sang of endless romance and passionate kisses, and she cut a glare toward Gage, who was grinning broadly and triumphantly. She shook her head, snapped "Get real", and excused herself to the restroom where she could be alone and fight to regain her composure and rein in her emotions.

Gage was a kitchen nightmare, but he still tried to make her dinner when they ended up working on through into the night. His futile efforts ended in an exploded microwave and condiments dripping off of all four walls and the ceiling. He tried to bluster out an excuse when they were given the command to clean the kitchen, but she silenced him with a growl that, though he found incredibly thrilling to his ears, he knew better than to mess with.

Finally, late that night, when they were the only ones left still working diligently as Trivette had finally succumbed to a nap and Walker was off to see Alex in special gratitude for what she had worked for Gage, Gage watched and waited until Sydney again went to the bathroom. This time, he laid out what he could only hope would be a fool-proof plan. He raced as though he was caught in gunfire, determined to get everything done before she could return.

He killed the lights, replacing them with candles spread throughout the room. He locked the door to the outside so that none would intervene and shut Trivette in the office. He spread a blanket out onto the floor, laid out the Chinese delivery, and spread rose petals from the door that Sydney would return through all the way to the blanket where he then laid a dozen roses. He placed a couple of soft pillows on her side of the blanket and slid a very special envelope underneath her plate. Then he settled down, his heart hammering in his throat and ears, to wait.

He did not have long to wait, and when she entered the room, Sydney stood still, her own heart leaping into her throat at the romantic display set out before her. Her breath caught; her heart hammered even as it threatened to leap out of her mouth and grow wings. She stood as still as a statue, frozen to the spot, and Gage looked up at her with a tentave smile. He could think of no words as her beauty struck him speechless yet again.

Instead, he rose, made his way carefully along all that he had set up, and offered his hand to her. "My lady?"

"I . . . I . . . I . . . " Sydney gasped for breath, for words, for anything that might help her think clearly, but she was utterly speechless and her hand slipped into his before she could stop it.

"You don't have to say anything now," he reassured her with a smile. "Just please don't run from me yet . . . " Her eyes rose questioningly to his, but still she did not dare to trust herself to speak. " . . . and enjoy dinner," he concluded, flashing her a smile.

She let him guide her to the pillows and even allowed him to assist her in kneeling down. Her heart was pounding so loudly she knew he must hear it, and yet he showed no sign of seeing the effect his romanticness was having on her. She looked at the food before her and smiled; he'd even remembered her favorite Oriental dish.

He sat down across from her, candelight flickering upon his face. She could no longer tell if he was as uncertain as he had at first appeared or was his usual confident self. Little did she know that he was never as confident as he boasted but only kept trying to win the hand of the only woman who'd ever touched his heart.

She raised eyes full of fear that he did not understand to his and whispered, "No strings?"

He shook his head. "No strings."

Yet, as she moved to partake of her food, she caught sight of the red envelope hiding just beneath her plate. She lifted it, slid out the card, tried failingly to keep her smile from spreading all over her face at the sight of the cute cat and dog couple exchanging kisses, and opened the card. Her smile vanished as she caught the two tickets that began to fall. Her brown eyes flashed, cutting daggers up at him. "Liar, you totally had every intention of -- !"

He sighed, his own smile fading almost completely from sight. He shook his head. "I didn't say I didn't plan this, Syd," he tried to explain, "only that there are no strings, and there aren't. If you don't want to come with some one you trust on what would be a romantic escape only if you choose to make it one, it's all right. I'll give the tickets to Walker, and he can use them. I wanna be close to you. I want you to stop shutting me out, but I can't make you. Nothing would make me happier than if you would be my valentine, but . . . " His sigh sounded like she had just taken his heart in her bare hands and torn it to shreds. " . . . I can see, no matter what I do, it's not going to be enough to make a woman as wonderful, brave, smart, and beautiful as you are love me." The hurt look on his handsome face nearly destroyed her own heart on the spot.

Sydney lowered her head and pressed her lips together to keep from crying. How could she tell him that she already loved him? How could she tell him that she was afraid, afraid that he would hurt her or maybe even she him, afraid that becoming a couple would completely tear asunder their friendship, a relationship that she cherished more than any other she had ever experienced? Yet how could she let the man she loved, the man who had worked his way pass her every defense to embed himself forever in her heart, hurt as she knew he was doing?

"Just go ahead and eat," he said, moving to start to get up. "I'll kill the candles and turn the lights back on. I -- "

Her soft, sad voice cut him off. It shook, and she hated that it almost sounded like a whimper. "Gage, we need to talk." She gestured for him, with fingers whose trembling she prayed he could not see in the shadows, to sit down. When he obliged, she struggled to continue, "It's not -- It's not that I don't care for you."

"I know," he said, "but only as a friend." He hung his head like a whipped pup, and his shoulders sagged. "I guess it's time I learned to respect that."

"Gage, I . . . " She sighed. She had to fight to speak every word for the fear that clogged her throat and threatened to do the same to her mind. "We're in danger."

His head snapped up; his eyes looked into hers. "What?"

"We're in danger," she repeated, her words becoming firmer.

She wasn't hiding, he thought, or trying to whisper. It wasn't the type of danger that had first come to his mind, but still, whatever she feared being harmed by . . . "I'm here," he offered. "Nothing can harm you. I won't let it."

Her own gaze had fallen to the floor, but now she rose her eyes to meet his again. She had to summon every last ounce of her courage to tell him, "_You_ can hurt me."

"What?! Syd, I -- I -- " Realization dawned upon him, and as the knowledge of her fears crashed upon his shore, Gage finally understood it all. He leaned over the blanket and took her face in his hands before she could stop him.

"Gage!"

He held her and looked directly into her eyes, his face but a breath away from hers. "Sydney, I love you. I would do anything to be with you but hurt you. If you're afraid that I would break your heart, let me tell you here and now I'd never do anything like that. I only want to love you and to be loved by you. I've loved you for so long now that I don't remember anybody before you. You are my one and only love."

He took a deep breath and continued, knowing her clamoring emotions had hushed her for he could see them quarreling in her eyes. "I would do anything to keep from hurting you. I'd rather take my own life than hurt you even once." He kicked himself for the betraying tears that shimmered in his eyes. He wanted to show her how strong, determined, reassuring, and loving he was, not how weak he was, but it was those tears that spoke the truth of his words to Sydney.

He wasn't lying, she realized. He wasn't being overly confident or joking or anything else. He was telling her truth, the complete truth, and nothing but the truth. He loved her! He really, truly loved her and was as loathe to hurt her as she was to hurt him! "I love you." There she had said it! It was out in the open!

Gage stared at her, taken aback in shock. Had she finally said it? Did she truly love him? His eyes searched hers. "If I'm dreaming, don't ever let me wake up."

"You're not dreaming," she reassured, leaning forward into his embrace, her arms wrapping around him and pulling him closer. "I only pray that neither of us will regret this."

He caressed her face and let one hand slide up into her hair. His fingers threaded into her long hair, thrilling at its silkiness. It was every bit as rich and silky as he'd always known it must be. "We won't," he promised. "We love each other, Syd! We're meant to be together, and I'll spend every last day and night of my life, proving that to you as long as you'll let me!" He sealed his solemn promise with a kiss.

She had waited so long to feel his lips upon hers, and her mouth parted eagerly beneath his. His tongue swept into her mouth, ravenously exploring. His hands roamed her face, hair, and arms, caressing and stroking her and thrilling at every touch but daring to go no further lest he frighten her away. She kissed him harder and more passionately with growing need. She had waited so long, so very long, and now that her heart was laid open before him, she could barely stand the thought of waiting any longer.

Her hands moved to run over his body while her lips never let up. They gasped for breath between kisses, recapturing each other's mouths as though they were dying of thirst and their sweet nectars were all that could save them. Her hands roamed his body freely, boldly, caressing every inch they came across and daring to sweep ever lower.

He parted from her just once, barely long enough to ask huskily, his eyes gazing dreamily into hers, "Are you sure?" At her nod, he took her to paradise again and again on the blanket while Trivette snored in the next room. Their hearts sang their own special song that would sing repeatedly from then on every time they shared a glance, a kiss, a hug, and a reuniting of their bodies, heart, and soul. Their song was that of a love that would last forever and conquer everything in its pathway, starting with melting away their greatest fears.

**The End**


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